Angela Bassett is the baddest for a number of reasons, but we all know that her incredible skin and seemingly agelessness is part of the reason we Stan for her. On Today’s episode of the Tamron Hall Show, Bassett appeared with her longtime esthetician Mamie McDonald, who many of us know as Skin by Mamie, the woman behind the best skin days of Yara Shahidi, Mary J. Blige, Tasha Smith, and even Tamron Hall herself.
On the segment, McDonald explained some of the different regimens that she likes to put together. While she admitted that Bassett’s skin is hereditary, she still offered up some gems on how she’s kept it looking legendary through the decades. Spoiler: she lives for a good mask. And she also gave tips on how we can (try to) keep our skin looking just as good.
“I’m not into toners. But I do like cleansers,” said McDonald. “If your skin is sensitive you don’t want a cleanser with glycolic acid or salicylic acid, because [they] exfoliate and thin the skin.”
McDonald also suggested using a mask three times a week if your skin is really oily, and twice a week if your skin is in need of hydration. Masks and serums, in her expert opinion, are the way to keep the skin (including lines) soft.
And according to McDonald, cucumbers will not rid your eyes of dark circles. The coldness and small amount of water in them will help with depuff, hydrate, and sooth but will not help your discoloration. If you want to look like as radiant as Bassett, washing your face twice a day, eating and drinking well, using serums twice daily and staying regimented about your beauty routine is key.
But Bassett had another key element that she credited for her covetable beauty.
“It’s your frame of mind,” she said. “It’s your mind, your mental state. We all have the capacity to be as beautiful or as ugly as we choose. It starts from the inside.”